Improvement in stop-motions for knitting-machines



UNITED "STATES 'PATENT-l OFFICE.

JosnPH DALTON, or BRooKLYN,`Nnw YORK.

Specification forming part of LettersPatent No. 43,294', datedJune 28,1864.

To all whom it mag/concern:

' Be it known that I, JOSEPHDALTON, of the easterndistrict of the cityof Brooklyn, in the county of `Kin gs and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in the Stop-Motion forKnitting'Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same,` reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure lis a plan view of part of a circular` knitting machine,illustrating the application Fig. 2 is a central verticali of myinvention. section of the bobbin from which the yarn is supplied,showing my invention. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same. Fig. 4 is anelevation of the lock of the belt-shipper.' V

Similar letters of lreference indicate corresponding parts in theseveral figures.

This invention consists in furnishing the bobbin of a knitting-machinewith a movable piece of steel or other metal or material, so appliedwithin a recess in one side that while there is more than a very fewcoils of yarn upon the bobbin the said piece is thereby confined in sucha position that it will not interfere with the lock of the stop-motion,but that when the yarn has nearly given out the said piece will beprojected so far from the bobbin by a spring or other means as to becaused by the operation of the machine to come in contact with the lockand unlock it, thereby leaving the automatic belt-shipper or itsequivalent free to throw off the belt from the driving-pulley,l orotherwise put the machine out of gear 7 and produce its stoppage.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, Figs. 1, 2, 3, is the bobbin, made of the usual form, but having anarrow longitudinal groove, a, Fig. 2, cut in one side for the receptionofthe ilat piece of steel or other metal, or sufficiently strongmaterial, b, which is inserted edgewise thereinto. This piece of steelis secured,near its upper end, in the groove a by a pin, c, insertedthrough it and the groove, and it has applied behind it within thegroove a spring, d, which tends to press its lower part outward beyondthe periphery of the bobbin, as shown in red outline in Figs. 2 and 3,but which permits it to be pressed` back into the groove with its outeredge ilush` with the periphery of the bobbin, as shown in rblack outlinein Figs. 2 and 3. The lower end of the piece b is represented `asprojecting below the base of thebobbin, but this is not absolutelynecessary.

`The provision of the piece b in the bobbin is what constitutes myinvention. The bobbin so provided is applicable to variouskinds ofknitting-machines; but a description of its application to one kind ofcircularknittingmachine, with a few subsequentremarks, will enable 1mechanics familiar with knittingmachines to apply it to other kinds ofknittingmachines.

The machine (partly represented in Fig. l) has a stationary needle-ring,(not represented,) and the bobbin A is placed on a vertical spindle, e,which is carried by a horizontal rotating plate, B, which is toothed onits under side to be driven by a bevel-gear, C, on the shaft D of themachine, which is furnished with a fast pulley, E, and loose pulley F,the movement being obtained from a belt, G, from a suitabledriving-shaft. The bobbin has secured in its lower end a projecting pin,f, which bears against the base piece g, by which the spindle e issecured to the rotating plate B, and so prevents the bobbin from turningon the said spindle, and keeps the piece G always on the side of thebobbin at the greatest distance from the center of the rota-1 y plate B.

li is the belt-shipper, consisting of a fork lever working on a xedfulcrum, g. This lever has applied to it a spring, h, which tends topull it in a direction to bring the belt on the loose pulley F.

ij k is the principal portion of the lock of the beltshipper, consistingof a pin, j, which is fitted to turn freely in abearingin a plate, fi,which is secured to the table J ofthe machine and which has secured toit an arm, lc, and a short projection, i. The pin j has applied to itbelow the plate I a spring, Z, which tends to press it upward so thatits lower end is kept clear of the shipper H.

When the machine is in operation, the pin j is kept depressed to such aposition by its projection t being under a lug, m, on the plate I, asshown in Fig. 4, that its lower end serves as a stop to act against oneedge of the belt-shipper and keep the said shipper in a position to holdthe belt on the fast-pulley E, as shown in Fig. l.

The operation is as follows When the bobbin is full, and until all hasbeen used but the last few (two, three, or more) coils of yarn,

' the yarn keeps the piece b in the slot a, with its outer edge lushwith the periphery of the bobbin, and while the piece a is in thisposition it passes clear of the arm 7c of the lock of the belt-shipperas the bobbin, carried by the rotating plate B, revolves around theneedlering; but when so little yarn remains upon the bobbin that it willnot conne the piece b, the said piece is forced so far outward from thegroove a of the bobbin by the spring d that its lower part-will strikethe arm k and so move it to such a position as to bring the projectiont' of the lock from under the lug m, and the spring l then lifts the pinj to such a position as to bring its lower end above the shipper-leverH, and so liberate the said lever, which is then pulled by the spring hto a position to put the beltG on the loose' pulley F, and the machinestops. The bobbin is then removed from the spindle e and a full onesubstituted for it, and when the yarn on the new bobbin has been joinedwith the end of the old yarn the shipper-lever is moved by hand to aposition to put the belt on the fast pulley, and the machine is therebyagain started. The pin j is then pushed down by hand to a position tostop the shipper-lever in the lastmentioned position and turned to aposition to bring the projection z' of the pin j under the lug on, andso lock the shipper.

When the bobbin has a revolving motion, as in the machine represented,it may be practicable to dispense with the spring d, to force ont thepiece b, and let the said piece be forced out from the bobbin bycentrifugal force, but I prefer to apply the spring, as the action ofthe said piece will thereby be rendered certain. l

In a knitting-machine in which two or mor bobbins are used, each oneshould be furnished with the movable piece b.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

Furnishing the bobbin of a knitting-machin With a movable piece, b,applied to operate, substantially as herein described, for the purposeof unlocking the stop-motion when the.

yarn gives out.

J. DAL'ION.

Witnesses HENRY T. BROWN, M. M. LIvnvGs'roN.

